How to open those plastic packages of electronics without injuring yourself

Small electronics nowadays come in those impossible-to-open plastic packages. A few weeks ago I tried to open one and managed not to slice my hand with the knife I was using. (Those who know me know that knives and I don't get along well.) Unfortunately, I failed to pay close attention to the sharp edges of the cut plastic and ended up cutting three of my fingers.

The next day, I called the manufacturer's product support number and politely asked, "How do I open the package?"

The support person recommended using a pair of very heavy scissors. (I tried scissors, but mine weren't heavy enough and couldn't cut through the thick plastic.) Cut across the top, then down the sides, being careful to avoid the sharp shards you're creating. (You might want to wear gloves.)

If you bought someone a small electronics thingie, consider keeping a pair of heavy scissors on hand. That's my tip for the season.

I feel your pain. As part of my job, I regularly test new MP3 players, and they ALL use that gawd-awful packaging. I’ve got no hand strength, wrist injuries, and wimpy scissors, so I’ve nearly hurt myself trying to open 3 or 4 of those in a day.

I haven’t gotten to try this yet, but I bet a paper-cutter would do the trick nicely. Too bad we don’t have one of those at work.

I’ve had very good results with my folding knife (kershaw 3" for the curious). For the nasty plastic packages, I stab the middle and cut outwards. Kitchen shears also work too. Just don’t cut your flash card in half.

As for those anti-theft tags, has anyone taken them off (still armed) and stuck them to the entrance doors?

I have cut straight through a driver CD that was hidden inside some packaging without realising it. Fortunately everyone makes theirs drivers available on the web and usually newer than what they have on the CD.

I had heard there was a law in Germany that you could take packaging back to the store where you bought the item and they would have to dispose of it.

I wish something like that was legislated in the US. My first trip would be to Costco who seems to sell products with way too much packaging.

My technique used to be to cut one edge off and start two small cuts along the other two edges then pull to get both other edges cut open but then these stupid manufacturers added random circles inside the borders that are fused together so you can’t do that trick anymore.

I say we get everyone to call the support lines. I bet if the numbers came back that say 30% or 50% of support calls where complaints about that plasic they would start finding a better way to package.

You know, hacksaw can do wonders to cut the tough fused plastic edges :-).

In my last plastic cutting effort, I used a butcher knife (as a hacksaw) to cut through the edge near a corner. The aim was to reach the edge main display area. One can slice through a knife (like a butter) through that plastic. Doing the same on other edges separates the top part from the bottom.

I use an old-fashioned guillotine-style paper cutter to trim each edge off, or a serrated knife. Once you cut in with one of the serrations, it will ride on the inside of the weld just fine. It takes no time at all to open one this way.

I use a pair of tin-snips (something like this: http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B0000DCZBX ). They actually have a longer cutting area, like 3.5 inches, and came in a two pack with a pair of regular tin snips. I bought it because it would be perfect for opening those types of packages. Ironically, it was from Cosco, and came in one of those packages, leaving me with a fun chicken and egg problem…:-)

Here’s a thought… Rather than calling the tech support lines, where you still have to open the package, have the clerk at Best Buy open it… I bet Best Buy will figure out a better way to package things after 30 or 40 workman’s comp claims <grin>

I think Costco uses the huge packaging so people can’t slip it inside their clothes or under to 50lbs of rice.

As for the bubble packaging, there was a case where I actually WISHED the product I was buying was in that packaging — earbuds for a cellular telephone. I ended up inspecting each package for signs of earwax. I ended up purchasing the product that they "just got in today!"

About 2 months ago, I cut off a good portion of the UPC code while trying to open the packaging for a miniSD card. The UPC code was on the back, and I was cutting the package open from the front. I’m hoping they don’t disqualify my rebate because of that.

Gee, I hadn’t thought of Tin Snips, however, part of my standard office arsenal is the Fiskars pruning & lopping tool (the handheld one… not the 3foot long one) . Yup, it can snip branches 3/8" in diameter according to the instructions… but what it doesn’t tell you is that it can cleanly and easily cut open even the thickest heat-sealed plastic packaging. They don’t cost much more than a pair of good office scissors… but the bright orange handles may gather a few stares.

Top and sides is right – my instinct is to cut across the accursed packaging as close as possible to the gizmo, but sometimes instructions (usually poorly written, but that’s another story) are printed inside a folded cardboard insert that gets mangled in the process.

I bought Microsoft Office the other day. I spent a half hour trying to get the hard plastic off, injuring my fingers as usual. After much gnashing of teeth, and bleeding of fingers, I finally liberated the box from its plastic container.

Then I found out that it had a perforated square on the back that takes about 10 seconds to open.

i usually try to take an x-acto and slice into the "blister" section from the top, like i’m trying to stab the top of the product. then i gently follow the outer contour of the blister, separating it. usually i can get the knife blade to rest behind the product (if it has to touch at all) and the short thin blade helps with that. when i’m done, i have one flat item (the base of the package with the cardboard and whatnot) and one "fingerbowl" (the blister part). works consistently, but you do have to have a small and very sharp knife around.

The shrink-wrap and tape on CDs I can handle. But several years ago, the Barnes & Noble store in my town would wrap clear packing tape around the shrink wrap of each CD. After a couple CDs, I refused to ever buy them there again. I couldn’t open them without hurting the case.

I also hate blister packs, and was pleasantly surprised when I got USB christmas trees from http://www.thinkgeek.com and they came in a plastic container that wasn’t sealed shut and could be easily opened and closed. What a concept…

When i brought my Creative Zen Touch from Amazon it came in one of these damn packages and I broke two pairs of scissors trying to open it, and once i had the outer shell off there was another inner shell which wasn’t suck down, but was so tight that when i finally pulled it apart the Zen went flying towards the floor, fortunatly it landed on the bean bag… phew!

Thankfully I bought Office XP under my Schools Education liscence, they just handed me three CDs in a plastic baggy, low tech and easy to open.

I actually had a very *good* experience with that darn blister packaging this year. I got a Targus Cool pad for Christmas and the sides pulled right apart and the top ripped open, the pad was then thin enough to squeeze out the opening. In retro spect, immediately after typing this I realize that there might have already been some work done on the package. I can’t be sure (the package is in the trash) but I wouldn’t be surprised if the UPC had already been taken off for rebate purposes. We’ll assume the best and say the package was 100% in good condition.

Personally I hate opening audio CDs, the shrink wrap never seems to want to come off, and sometimes when you get it open there’s a tape strip in there as if to make you think one more time about if you want to listen to the CD.

Along the same lines, my son got a couple of rescue heroes for Christmas and I thought I was going to need a Rescue Hero before I was done getting them out of the packaging. They use this coated metal cord that is twisted in the back of the box and then it is taped over, so you essentially wind up destroying the packaging to get it out.

At Home Depot, in the impulse buy area, I saw a tool designed to open those heavy plastic blister packs. It was packaged in–you guessed it–a heavy plastic blister pack. They were clever though, the packaging proclaimed, "This is the last plastic package you’ll ever struggle to open."

If I remember correctly, on a visit to Wal-Mart some months ago I saw some plastic packs that were even larger than normal– in the Wal-Mart I visited, electronics are isolated inside a fenced off area of the store, with cash registers at the entrance. (So you have to pay for what you take before leaving this section.)

Products inside the electronics area were in normal-sized plastic packs; products hanging from the fence outside the area were in the giant plastic packs.

So, yeah, the packs are there to deter theft. If they’re easy to open then they’re easy to open inside the store, which defeats their purpose.

Last Xmas, I had an interesting experience with these things. I bought a Garmin GPS online and also bought one in Target, because I didn’t think it was going to come on time. The online one had a nice box with a little plastic cover for display. The Target one had the same box, same cover, but the whole thing was wrapped in a super-size blister pack.

I’m surprised they bother to have different versions of the packaging, but apparently they do.

I highly recommend box-cutters/xacto knife, with a sharp razor blade. The sheath will protect your fingers, and you can punch through the plastic at an appropriate place (preventing injuries on the cut plastic).

I love how so many things (CDs, DVDs, software, gadgets, etc.) come triple-wrapped in plastic. Is this for freshness? Do the plastic companies bribe the manufacturers to use more plastic? This can’t all be there just to prevent theft.

I have a pair of scissors that can cut a penny in half, so that works good for the blister packs.

For the infinite plastic-coated twist-tie children’s toys, I used to open them from the back, peel off the tape, and unwrap the ties. This year, I just grabbed my wire cutters, and cut the twist ties from the FRONT of the package–snip, snip, had them out.

Maybe it’s overkill, but since I have one handy I use a bench grinder to grind the seal off three of the edges of the package. This creates a rather nasty plastic dust as a by-product, but I haven’t injured myself or damaged the enclosed product since I adpoted this method. Quick, relatively safe, and even a little fun [or perhaps "grimly satisfying"].

There may be another reason besides theft deterrence that Costco has such large packages: they’re a warehouse store and part of the appeal of buying things there is to buy things that are *big* — giant vats of mayonnaise and 50-pound bags of rice, etc.

The shelves are huge, the ceilings are thirty feet high: products needs to be in big packages to be noticed.